Acceptance of information appliances, such as computers and computer controlled appliances, by the general consumer public is desired. One factor that will aid in this acceptance is ease of installation. For example, the information appliances should be as simple to assemble and install as non-information appliances, such as toasters.
One of the barriers to simplifying the installation of information appliances is the number of ports that a typical information product has to plug into. For instance, typical information products must be plugged into at least one information socket, such as a telephone or coaxial socket, and at least one power socket, such as common household 110 volt electrical sockets. Additionally, in most homes and businesses, the sockets for information and power are not located in close proximity to one another. This requires not only two plugging-in operations, but also the running of conductors to the two remote locations.
Eventually, newer businesses and homes will have power and information/data sockets that are further integrated into a single socket. In this instance, a single outlet will supply both power and data, thus requiring only one cable and only one plugging-in operation. However, the widespread availability of such sockets will not occur for some time, and there will be a significant transition period, during which some consumers have the new integrated outlets, and some have the old separate power and data outlets.
For the manufacturers and suppliers of information appliances, significant expense will be required to produce two different models of every information appliance, or to provide two kinds of power cables, or to provide special cable adapters in order to accommodate users with the older and the newer sockets.
The prior art teaches combined power-and-data outlets and also teaches combined power-and-data cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,929 to Hogarth et al. provides an integrated outlet that allows supply of AC power to an outlet receptacle when certain conditions are satisfied. The integrated outlet contains separate modules that establish electrical connection with electrical conductors that transmit AC and DC power, telecommunications, control communications, and signals transmitted along a coaxial conductor. In a preferred embodiment, these electrical conductors are all disposed on a single ribbon cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,399 to Schenk provides a multi-service electrical outlet module which combines at a single location the outlets for connection to various electrical systems such as power, telephone, computer systems and television antenna. The outlet module is comprised of a housing having a chamber centrally disposed within the housing. Fixed within the chamber are mounting plates which carry the outlets for connection to the various electrical systems. These outlets will include ones for reception of the connectors of cables such as those associated with power supply, ribbon wires, telephone service, radio wave signal reception, and coaxial cable service.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,757 to Nilssen provides a combined telephone and power distribution system. The system transmits both telephone signals and Class-2 high frequency electric power from a central point by way of a common transmission cable to the location of a telephone apparatus. Thus, the system provides at that location, not only telephone signals, but also a limited amount of electric power useful for various things, such as task lighting. The common transmission cable is an ordinary telephone cable wherein at the location of the telephone apparatus, some of the wires in the cable are connected with the telephone, and some of the wires in the cable are connected with a fluorescent task lighting fixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,869 to Schukantz provides a cable for conveying control or other information signals of selected frequencies and for simultaneously conveying a selected amount of electric power. The cable has a central conducting means, a material of selected dielectric coefficient which surrounds the central conducting means, and an outer conducting means which is positioned around the dielectric. The outer conducting means cooperates with the central conducting means to provide a first path through which the information signals are conveyed, and one of the conducting means providing a second path through which the electric power is conveyed. Thus, the conducting means perform a dual conductive function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,698 to Izui et al. provides a composite cable with built-in signal and power cables. This composite cable is mainly used as a control cable for numerical controlled machine tools. The composite cable contributes to reduced cost since it requires only a single cable to be laid, as compared to conventional cables which require laying of multiple cables. The composite cable has one or more power cables provided in the center of the composite cable and having a large conductor size. The composite cable also has a flat signal cable formed by a plurality of insulated cores arranged in parallel in the lengthwise direction of the flat signal cable. The flat signal cable has alternately repeated combined portions and separated portions, which are spirally wound around the power cables into a roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,777 to Borsuk et al. provides a combined fiber optic and electrical connector member in which the metallic conductors of a cable coupled to the connector member extend through a hollow sleeve while the optical fibers of the cable are spirally wound around the sleeve in a flex chamber, thereby reducing bend radiation losses through the fibers when the connector member is engaged with a mating connector member.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide A plug and cable that functions as a single integrated cord for use with new integrated sockets, but can be easily separated into two separate cords, for at least part of its length, for use with older non-integrated sockets.